What I listened to today

[RebLem]

​
On Sunday, 3 JUN 2018, I listened to 3 CDs.
　
1) Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): CD 3 of a 10 CD Brilliant Classics set of the complete works. Sonate da Chiesa a tre, Op. 2 (1685) +, #s 9-12: |Tr. 1-3. #9 in F Sharp Minor (6'28) |Tr. 4-7. # 10 in E Major (5'45) |Tr. 8-10. # 11 in E Flat Major (3'27) |Tr. 11. # 12 ub G Major (5'04) ||Tr. 12-16. Sonata a quattro in D Major, WoO 4, for tromba sola, due violine e basso (5'29) |Tr. 17-20. Sonata a tre in A Major, WoO 5 (5'00) |Tr. 21-23. Sonatra a tre in D Major, WoO 6 (3'06) |Tr. 24-27. Sonata a tre in D Major, WoO 37 (5'01) |Tr. 28-31. Sonata a tre in D, WoO 8, (6'21)--Remy Baudet, violin, Sayuri Yamagata, violin, Albert Bruggen, cello, William Wroth, baroque trumpet, Frank Wakelkamp, cello 1982 Bolink reproduction after Amati (WoO 6-7), David van Ooijen, archlute, Pieter-Jan Belder, harpsichord. No information on recording dates or venues or even publication year provided.
　
Excellent performances from an OIP ensemble. Recommended.
　
2) Ture Rangstrom (1884-1947): |Tr. 1. Dithyramb (1909, rev. by Kurt Atterberg, 1948) (17'13) |Tr. 2-5. Symphony 1 in C Sharp Minor (1914) (34'52) |Tr. 6. Varhymn (Spring Hymn) (1942) "In Memory of August Strindberg" (8'02)--Michail Jurowski, cond., Norrkoping Symphony Orch.--cpo CD, rec. AUG 1995 Konzerthaus, Norrkoping, Sweden. CD 1 of a 3 CD set of all four of Rangstrom's symphonies + other orchestra works.
　
All of the music here is composed in memory of or to honor or was inspired by the Swedish writer August Strindberg (1849-1912), for whom Ture Rangstrom felt an extraordinary artistic and stylistic affinity. He studied with a high school music teacher in his native Stockholm, composition for a couple years with Hans Pfitzner in Berlin, and also with the Wagnerian vocal pedagogue Julius Hey. Nevertheless, he was mostly a self-taught composer.
　
When he first came to wide public attention in Sweden as a result of the first performances of Dithyramb, his first orchestral composition, he was viewed in Sweden as an enfant terrible. But in comparison with what Stravinsky and Shoenberg were doing at the same time, his work on this CD must be seen as being written in a very conservative idiom.
　
3) CD 23 of a 24 CD SONY set titled "Gary Graffman, the Complete RCA & Columbia Album collection." |Tr. 1-3. Benjamin Lees (1924-2010): Piano Sonata 4 (25'00) |Tr. 4-7. Bela Bartok (1881-1945): Suite for Piano, Op. 14 (1916, rev. 1918) (8'29) |Tr. 8-11. Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Piano Sonata 2 in B Minor, Op. 14 (1914) (16'32). TT" 50'10. Rec. Columbia 30th St. Studio, NYC 24 JUN 1964 & 3 APR 1967 (1-3), 26 FEB 1965 (4-7), 26 DEC 1962 (8-11).
　

It is interesting that these three composers should inhabit this disc. The Wikipedia article on Lees says this: "Lees rejected atonalism and Americana in favor of classical structures. Niall O'Loughlin writes in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "From an early interest in the bittersweet melodic style of Prokofiev and the bizarre and surrealist aspects of Bartók's music, he progressed naturally under the unconventional guidance of [George] Antheil [his most important and influential teacher and mentor]." Lees' music is rhythmically active, with frequently changing accents and meter even in his early works, and is known for its semitonal inflections in melody and harmony."

　
The Bartok Suite is one of the few solo piano works by Bartok with no folk melodies in it, though it does seem influenced by the spirit of Romanian, Arabic, and North African rhythms. It was originally in five movement work, but in 1918, he decided to drop the second movement andante.
　
To me, the Prokofiev is the most appealing work here. It has never impressed me before, but Graffman is a very persuasive advocate. Prokofiev wrote it while still a conservatory student, and he dedicated it to Maximilian Schmidthof, a fellow student who had committed suicide the year before, in 1913. But, it is a rather cheerful work, not at all the dour work you might expect in light of the dedication.

[John F]

For me the Graffman disc is a complete surprise - I'd no idea he played that music. Praise to Columbia for recording and publishing it.

[jserraglio]

Smetana_Brandenburgers in Bohemia_Tichy-Prague National Theatre 1963 Supraphon LP vinyl

[jserraglio]

Rachmaninoff The Bells/Isle of the Dead Ormandy/Phila Columbia LP vinyl

[maestrob]

jserraglio: I don't remember that LP ever being released on CD. As a long time follower of Ormandy's Rachmanninoff, that disc would really appeal to me. The only recording I have of Isle of the Dead from that era is Reiner's.

[jserraglio]

jserraglio: I don't remember that LP ever being released on CD. As a long time follower of Ormandy's Rachmanninoff, that disc would really appeal to me. The only recording I have of Isle of the Dead from that era is Reiner's.

i don't believe it has been but it's one of my favorite monos from Ormandy. And Isle is available on Amazon Prime Music and YouTube in lossy format.



I've been focusing more on LPs of late and they sure sound sweet to me. No way will I ever give them up even if I have the corresponding CD.

Description of the LP on Popsike.com: This beautiful LP from Columbia Masterworks (ML 5043, US pressing, gray 6eye label, mono only – no stereo edition exists) features Eugene Ormandy’s magnificent renditions of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s The Bells Op. 35 and Isle of the Dead Op. 29. In the former, Ormandy is joined by vocal soloists Frances Yeend (soprano), David Lloyd (tenor), and Mack Harrell (baritone), as well as by the Temple Univsrity Chorus (Chorus Director: Elaine Brown).

Both works were warmly recorded at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia – the former on 28 February 1954 and the latter on 7 November 1954. The Bells is here given in its English translation, but sounds entirely convincing given the thrust and immediacy of the singing.

Ormandy knew and worked with Rachmaninov personally and was always an insightful interpreter of the composer’s works, and it so it proves here. Both performances are imbued with a tremendous sense of occasion and can withstand the most exalted comparisons.

Incidentally, the striking cover art is credited to Kasper. There are superlative liner notes on the reverse side of the jacket by Charles Burr, printed in English only.

[RebLem]

​
On Wednesday, 6 JUN 2018, I listened to one CD.
　
1) Harold Schiffman (b. 1928): |Tr. 1-4. Symphony 2 "Music for Gyor" (2008) (21'17) |Tr. 5. Ninnerella Variata (Varied Lullaby) (1956) (7'30) |Tr. 6. Variations on "Branchwater" for guitar and orchestra (1987) (13'56) |Tr. 7-13. "Blood Mountain" Suite (2008) (21'34) |Tr. 14. Overture to a Comedy (1983) (6'14)--Katalin Koltai, guitar soloist (Tr. 6), Matyas Antal, cond., Gyor Philharmonic Orch. A North/South Consonance CD, rec. in Gyor, Hungary 11-18 OCT 2008.
　
Here is a brief bio of the composer from his website:

"Mr. Schiffman [was born in Greensboro, NC in 1928 and] received his education at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The University of California at Berkeley, and The Florida State University, Tallahassee. His principal composition teacher was Roger Sessions with whom he studied at the University of California, as well as privately in Berkeley and again later in Princeton, New Jersey, following three years service (1951-54) in the U. S. Army. In Tallahassee, a further influential mentor was Ernst von Dohnányi. Appointed to the faculty of the Florida State University School of Music in 1959, Harold Schiffman retired from the position of Professor of Composition in 1983 and was designated Professor Emeritus in 1985. He was founding director of the Florida State University Festival of New Music in 1981."

　
Schiffman writes: "Nearly 47 years after composing my first symphony (1961), I finished my second, in Tallahassee, FL. on 2 FEB 2008. The work is a paean commemorating my ten year love affair with the city of Gyor, Hungary, and its glorious philharmonic orchestra....It is scored for large orchestra...the piece treats various groupings of instruments antiphonally, somewhat in the manner of a concerto. This has particular emphasis in the 2nd movement, a set of double variations, but it is also characteristic of the entire composition.
"Ninnerella Variata was written in Princeton, NJ in Dec 1956 while I was confined to be with mumps! It was completed the day before Christmas and is dedicated to my son Roger, who was 19 months old at the time. It is scored for a small orchestra consisting of single woodwinds, two horns, celesta, and strings. The presence of a percussion instrument (celesta) may have caused the pice to be disqualified for a competition into which it was entered, the Benjamin Award for 'restful music.' A simple theme is followed by 12 variations. It proceeds in straightforward fashion at first, but as it goes on, the themes become fragmented and are developed individually. A quiet coda completes the work.
"The Variations was commissioned by guitarist Stephen Robinson. The theme, "Branchwater" is not a folk song but a tune I composed for this piece. I chose the name because, as all good Southerners know, the best way to enjoy the delights of Bourbon whiskey is with a little plain water called, in the American South, 'branchwater,' as if it came from a creek.
"The orchestral suite The Blood Mountain Suite is derived from my song cycle Blood Mountain. The cycle from 2007 is my third work based on texts by North Carolina Poet Laureate Kathryn Stripling Byer. The others are Alma (2002), and Wake (2003), The suite is actually a transcription for large orchestra of the songs themselves.
"The Overture to a Comedy was written in 1983 for a projected opera which never came to fruition. It was to have ben titles Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice based on a novel by James Branch Cabell."

[jserraglio]

another mono from Ormandy -- Haydn: Symphony No. 99 in E Flat Major; Symphony No. 100 in G Major ("Military") LP vinyl

[jserraglio]

jserraglio: As a long time follower of Ormandy's Rachmanninoff, that disc would really appeal to me. The only recording I have of Isle of the Dead from that era is Reiner's.

And here's a link to the Ormandy/PO Isle of the Dead streaming audio just in case you subscribe to Amazon Prime. The YT link to the same recording, no doubt in lesser sound, is provided above.

https://music.amazon.com/albums/B000QZV ... PDKIKX0DER

[maestrob]

jserraglio: As a long time follower of Ormandy's Rachmanninoff, that disc would really appeal to me. The only recording I have of Isle of the Dead from that era is Reiner's.

And here's a link to the Ormandy/PO Isle of the Dead streaming audio just in case you subscribe to Amazon Prime. The YT link to the same recording, no doubt in lesser sound, is provided above.

https://music.amazon.com/albums/B000QZV ... PDKIKX0DER

Many thanks! It's good to know it's still available, even though I don't subscribe to amazon Prime! What treasures there are in the world......

[RebLem]

​
On Friday, 8 JUN 2018, I listened to 2 CD.
　
1) Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915): Tr. 1-9. Cantata 2, Op. 36 "At the Reading of a Psalm" (69'01)--Mikhail Pletnev, cond., Russian National Orch., St Petersburg State Academic Capella Choir, Boys Choir of the Glinka Choral College. Lolita Semenina, soprano, Marianna Tarassova, alto, Mikhail Gubsky, tenor, Andrei Baturkin, bass. Pentatone Hybrid Multichannel SuperAudio CD, rec. live @ the Philharmonic Hall St. Petersburg, 1-2 MAY 2003. TT: 69'01.
　
Pentatone production packages are works of art in themselves, aside from their contents. This CD is in one of those fold-out booklets, with a CD pressed into a plastic template glued to the inside first page, the the other side is a 76 page (including front and back covers) booklet about the CD. Pages 2-25 are in English, and it has comparable German and French sections. Then near the end we have four pages consisting of the text of the work in four languages, beginning with a Latin-alphabet version of Russian.
　
This work is divided into three movements, each of which, in turn, is divided into three subsections, as follows:
First Movement-- 1 Chorus (5'12), 2 Double Chorus (4'50), 3 Chorus (7'38)
Second Movement--4 Chorus (3'39), 5 Quartet (10'55), 6 Quartet & Chorus (8'40)
Third Movement--7 Interlude (instrumental ending with choral exclamation) (6'20) 8 Alto solo aria (10'22) 9 Double Chorus (10'55)
The work begins with a choral passage: "The earth is trembling /The thunder rolls through the ether. /It is the voice of God. He orders the world: /Israel, my people, listen to me!"
All the other words, whether sung by a chorus, a quartet, or a soloist, represent the voice of God speaking directly to Man. One of the most beautful passages is the one in Tr. 5, sung by the quartet: "I need no incense. It is the breath of flowers, /Smelling sweet beneath the dew, /That showers praise upon me /From all parts of the world."
　
Although the choirs are mixed, basses and baritones seem to set the tone here, as they do in so much of Russian vocal music., and it has a rousing climax as well. Altogether a fine performance of an interesting work. Although it was a late work in Taneyev's output, it is written in a very conservative 19th century musical idiom. Nothing here, I think, that would have made Robert Schumann uncomfortabe.
　
2) A. Bruckner (1824-96): Symphony 7 in E Major (1885)--Karl Bohm, cond., Wiener Philharmoniker, rec. Musikvereinsaal, 4-5 JUN 1943. CD 3 of a 3 CD Tahra set titled "Hommage a Karl Bohm."
　
This was one of the WWII recordings made with a Magnetophon tape recorder, and the sound is magnificent for 1943. It is a broad, generous, flat out gorgeous performance. This CD set, you may recall, is a 3 B's, or maybe 4 B's issue--except Bach is replaced with Bruckner and Bohm is added. Highly recommended.

[jserraglio]

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5 op.73 - Christoph Eschenbach Piano, Boston SO, Ozawa, DGG 2530 438, 1974 by Piano Piano!, on Flickr

[John F]

Back in 1971, Angel issued an LP of ten short choral works by Taneyev on its Melodiya label. It was the first of his music that I had heard and it made a strong impression, so I went on to listen to more and more Taneyev, much of it on Soviet export LPs I found at New York's Four Continents Bookstore. I believe Lenny has seen his opera based on Aeschylus's "Oresteia," but I've never heard any of his music in person, though he composed a fine symphony and several string quartets. (A major Soviet string quartet took Taneyev's name for its own.)

A particular favorite is Taneyev's Concert Suite for violin and orchestra, a large-scale work that just about every important Soviet violinist played and many recorded, but that's little known outside Russia. Here's the second movement, a gavotte, played by Igor Oistrakh:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ZIwj-QHRM

[RebLem]

On Sunday, 10 JUN 2018, I listened to 2 CDs.

1) Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-87): The Four Symphonies |CD 1, Tr. 1-2. Symphony 1 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 18 (1932) (19'30) |Tr. 3-5. Symphony 2 in C Minor, Op. 19 (1934) (25'37) |CD 2, Tr. 1-2. Symphony 3 in B Flat Minor, Op. 22 for orchestra and mixed chorus "Requiem for Lenin" (1933) (19'07) |Tr. 3-6. Symphony 4 in C Major, Op. 54 (1956) ( 412'13)--Eije Oue, cond, NDR Radipphilharmonie (all), NDR Chor & The Choir of Hungarian Radio (Sym. 3) CD 1 of a @ CD cpo set of the four Kabalevsky symphonies by these forces. Rec. Grosser Sendesaal des NDR Landesfunkhauses 2001/2.

Kabalevsky was, in addition to being a composer, an administrator and apparatchik in the Soviet musical system, one of the exponents of "Socialist Realism." He was the only major Soviet composer who never suffered a rebuke from the regime, not even in 1948. The liner notes here are inconsistent about how this affected his relationship with the likes of Shostakovich, for example. At one point, they say relations between the two were very strained, but at another it says their duo piano performances of Beethoven symphonies were legendary among their circle of friends. Take your pick.

A number of the 7 reviewers @ Amazon who reviewed this set have valuable insights. I recommend them to your attention. https://www.amazon.com/Kabalevsky-Symph ... merReviews
The one thing all reviewers seem to agree on is the fact that these are superb performances, and indeed Oue and the MDR do a magnificent job.

[John F]

Toscanini conducted the American premiere of Kabalevsky's 2nd symphony in 1942. At the time, with the Soviet Union our World War II ally, it was the patriotic thing to do, as was his performance of Shostakovich's 7th. He repeated it in 1943 and 1945 but never again, such things having become unpatriotic. But Toscanini often conducted the Colas Breugnon overture, a very likeable piece which obviously he liked.

[jserraglio]

Arrau-Ormandy-Phila O - Liszt PC 1 Columbia ML 4665 LP vinyl

[John F]

I like the cover design featuring the triangle.

[jserraglio]

The triangle did not make it to the Masterworks Heritage CD reissue.

[jserraglio]

Uchida - Mozart 2 Sonatas and Rondo Philips LP vinyl

[RebLem]

​
On Wednesday, 13 JUNE 2018, I listened to one CD.
　
CD 6 of 7 in an RCA set titled "Van Cliburn plays Great Piano Concertos." |Tr. 1-3. L.V. Beethoven (1770-1827): Piano Concerto 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (33'49)--Fritz Reiner, cond., Chicago Symphony Orch., rec. 1963. |Tr. 4-6. Franz Liszt (1811-86): Piano Concerto 1 in E Flat Major, S 124. (18'21) |Tr. 7-32. S. Rachmaninoff (1873-1943): Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43. (24'42)--Eugene Ormandy, cond., Philadelphia Orch. (Tr. 4-32), rec. 1968 (4-6), 1970 (7-32). TT: 76'52).
　
My two favorite sets of the Beethoven Piano Concerti are the Goode/Fischer set and, or course, the old reliable Fleisher/Szell. Cliburn never recorded the first two concerti, but this recording is a worthy effort. Not up to the standard of the best, but very good nevertheless, especially in the middle slow movement, where he lovingly caresses every phrase.
　
The great French pianist Samson Francois recorded the Liszt 1 three times; the best, in my opinion, is his first, from 1954, with Constantin Silvestri and the Philharmonia Orch. That is my favorite recording of this work, by far.
　
Cliburn's Rhapsody is OK, but my favorite is still the Graffman/Bernstein.

[jserraglio]

Uchida - Mozart 3 Sonatas Philips LP vinyl

[Rach3]

Piotr Anderszewski, Mozart PC K.503 ( # 25 ), Vienna Phil. / Altinoglu, Grosse Festivalsaal, June 13,2018 :

https://www.nporadio4.nl/concerten/7894 ... elt-mozart

Magisterial first mov. with interesting cadenza ; dignified , well-shaped yet emotional slow mov. ; spirited yet nostalgic finale.

[jserraglio]

The Grumiaux Trio - Mozart Six Preludes and Fugues (after J.S. & W.F. Bach) Philips LP vinyl

[jserraglio]

Barbara Hendricks, Katia & Marielle Labèque - Barbara Hendricks Sings Gershwin Philips LP vinyl

[jserraglio]

Eden & Tamir - Music For Two Pianos: Rachmaninov, Milhaud, Lutoslawski, Poulenc London CS 6434

[RebLem]

​
On Friday, 15 JUNE 2018, I listened to 2 CDs.
　
1) Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): Sonate da Chiesa a tre, Op. 3, #s 1-9: |Tr. 1-4. 1 in F Major (6'49) |Tr. 5-8. 2 in D Major (7'58) |Tr. 9-12. 3 in B Flat Major (6'15) |Tr. 13-16. 4 in B Minor (7'43) |Tr. 17-20. 5 in D Minor (6'34) |Tr. 21-24. 6 in G Major (5'42) |Tr. 25-28. 7 in E Minor (6'30) |Tr. 29-32. 8 in C Major (7'18) |Tr. 33-36. 9 in F Minor (6'38)--Pieter-Jan Belder, organ & cond., Remy Baudet, Sayuri Yamagata, violins, Albert Bruggen, viola, David van Ooijen, archlute.--CD 4 of a 10 CD Brilliant Classics set of the complete works of Arcangelo Corelli.
　
These sonatas are more than the usual baroque dithering. These are all brief, four movement sonatas and mostly slow pieces, and soulful. Somehow, they seem to have an autumnal feel to them.
　
2) Ture Rangstrom (1884-1947): |Tr. 1-3. Symphony 2 in D Minor "Mitt Land" (1919) (37'30) |Tr. 4-8. Intermezzo drammatico (1916-18) (16'25)--Michail Jurowski, cond., Norrkoping Symphony Orch. CD 2 of a 3 CD cpo set including all 4 of the Rangstrom symphonies, rec. AUG 1995 Konzerthaus "Louis de Geer," Norrkoping, Sweden.
　

I found two sympathetic (with reservations) 4 star reviews of this CD on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Rangstrom-Sympho ... gstrom+CDs

[jserraglio]

Alfred Cortot Schumann Carnaval Chopin Etudes Nocturnes Japan EMI GR 2197 LP vinyl

[RebLem]

​
On Sunday, 17 JUNE 2018, I listened to 4 CDs.
　
1) CD 24 of the 24 CD set entitled "Gary Graffman: The Complete RCA & Columbia Album Collection." It consists of 18 tracks of music from the Woody Allen film MANHATTAN, all by George Gershwin (1898-1937). The album notes credit Zubin Mehta as the conductor with the NYPO, but I have information from Wikipedia that says Tracks 3, 7, & 18 were recorded by the Buffalo Philharmonic. Graffman is the pianst only in Track 1. Dick Hyman is the pianist in Tracks 6 & 11. All the others are orchestra only. No vocalists. A number of musicians from outside the orchestra are on Track 11, but I am not going to list them all. Music in some places orchestrated and adapted by Tom Pierson. |Tr. 1. Rhapsody in Blue (16'35) |Tr. 2. Land of the Gay Caballero (0'35). |Tr. 3. Someone to Watch Over Me (3'26) |Tr. 4. I've Got a Crush on You (0'44) |Tr. 5. Do, Do, Do (1'56) |Tr. 6. Mine (3'00) |Tr. 7. He Loves and She Loves (1'19) |Tr. 8. Bronco Busters (1'18) |Tr. 9. Oh, Lady Be Good! (0'58) |Tr. 10. 'S Wonderful (1'04) |Tr. 11. Love is Here to Stat (2'46) |Tr. 12. Sweet and Low-Down (0'47) |Tr. 13. Blue Blue Blue (0'40) |Tr. 14. Embraceable You (1'49) |Tr. 15. He Loves and She Loves (1'19) |Tr. 16. Love is Sweeping the Country/Land of the Gay Caballero (0'43) |Tr. 17. Strike Up the Band (0'37) |Tr. 18. But Not for Me (1'12). Rec. Columbia 30th St. Studio, NYC 7 MAR 1979, at least per liner notes. I am skeptical.
　
Obviously great music, somewhat marred by the fact that a lot of it was truncated for the film. The Rhapsody is the highlight here, and its a wonderfully idiomatic performance.
　
2) L. V. Beethoven (1770-1827): |Tr. 1-4. Symphony 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (63'17) |Tr. 5. Leonore Overture III in C Major, Op. 72a (13'38)--Fritz Busch, cond., Danish RSO (Tr. 1-5) & Chorus, Kerstin Lindberg-Torlind, soprano, Else Jena, mezzo-soprano, Eric Sjoberg, tenor, Holger Byrding, bass (Tr. 1-4). Rec. 7 SEP 1950 (Tr. 1-4), 24 OCT 1949 (Tr. 5). GUILD Records.
　
This Ninth is a very well executed MOR performance. The only thing a little unusual is that like a very few other conductors, Fritz Busch does not speed up as much in the final two minutes as most other conductors do. He speeds up just a tad, but not much. The vocal quartet is a very well matched one; not a weak performer among them and they gel unusually well with each other.
　
Leonore III is also an excellent performance. This CD is another example of a point I have made before. This orchestra, variously called the Danish Radio Symphony, The Danish National RSO, or the Danish State RSO, is a far better orchestra than its reputation and has been for a long time.
　
3) Frank Bridge (1879-1941): |Tr. 1. Rhapsody, H. 174 (1927) "Enter Spring" (18'36) |Tr. 2, Isabella, Symphonic Poem after Keats, H. 78 (1907) (18'00) |Tr. 3-4. Two Poems for Orchestra after Richard Jeffries, H., 118 (1915) (12'58) |Tr. 5. Mid of the Night, symphonic poem for orchestra, H. 30 (1903) (26'05)--Richard Hickox, cond., BBC National Orch. of Wales. Rec. Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, 26-27 NOV 2000. CD 1 of a 6 CD set of Bridge's complete orchestral music performed by these forces. CHANDOS.
　
All these works, from his very first orchestral work, the Mid of the Night, through the latest of them on this CD, "Enter Spring" from 1927, are in a late romantic idiom. This is somewhat startling for someone like me, who knows Frank Bridge primarily from a few chamber pieces and the fact that he was the most important teacher and mentor in the life of Benjamin Britten, whom I would classify, to the extent that he is classifiable, as a neo-classicist. But, nevertheless, there you have it.
　
4) CD 1 of a 5 CD Tahra set titled "Hommage a Hermann Scherchen" |Tr. 1-17. J.S. Bach (1685-1750): The Musical Offering, S. 1079 (47'29) |Tr. 18. Scherchen rehearses: L.V. Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony 8 in F Major, Op. 93 (1812) (22'19)--Hermann Scherchen, cond. (all), members of the Vienna Symphony Orch., 23 JUN 1950 (Tr. 1-17), l'Orchestre de la RTSI Lugano (Tr. 18, March 1965).
　
This set is a puzzle. OTOH (On the one hand), it is, in some respects, a luxurious and generous offering. The accompanying booklet (in French & English, but, suprisingly, not German) extends to 146 pages. It is loaded with documentation on Scherchen, his career and his personal life, with lots of photos, all in black & white except for one color photograph of the cemetery where he is buried on the inside back cover, page 145. Pics of his family, and posters announcing various concerts, and pages from concert programs throughout his career abound. During his captivity in Russia as a civilian POW in WWI, he learned to read Russian and read Russian literature, particularly Dostoyevsky, in the original for the rest of his life. He seems to have turned every misfortune into an opportunity. The booklet spends a great deal of time exponding on his love for the music of Arnold Schoenberg, and in fact, the set includes a performance of Act 2 Scene 3 of Moses und Aron and in fact, the box includes a separate 16 page booklet, again in French and English, of the text to the Scene, entitled, "The Dance Around the Golden Calf." And yet, there is no detail per track on the CDs. Just the information on timings I have in the headnote. In that respect, this is a bare bones production.
　

Per Wikipedia, "The Musical Offering (German title: Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of keyboard canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great (Frederick II of Prussia), to whom they are dedicated. The Ricercar a 6, a six-voice fugue which is regarded as the highpoint of the entire work, was put forward by the musicologist Charles Rosen as the most significant piano composition in history (partly because it is one of the first).[1] This ricercar is also occasionally called the Prussian Fugue, a name used by Bach himself."

This performance is very brightly recorded, and the sound is rather harsh. Because of that, I do not recommend it.
The Beethoven 8th is a rehearsal, none of which, of course, is in English. We do get to hear quite a lot of Scherchen's voice, which is rich with staccato bursts, and lots of rapid speech and clipped, crisp, sharp directions. He sounds rather intimidating, but the orchestra seems to respond well to his direction. Their respect for him is palpable.

[jserraglio]

Thibaud / Cortot - Sonatas For Violin & Piano FRANCK / FAURE LP Angel JAPAN LP vinyl

[Rach3]

Piano Sonata No.2 ( 1956 ) of Brazil's Edino Krieger , Laís de Souza Brasil, piano :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-iEbyuLmyM

[RebLem]

​
On Saturday, 30 JUNE 2018, I listened to 2 CDs.
　

1. Boris Tischenko (1939-2010): Beatrice, a Choreo-symphonic cycle of 5 symphonies, (1998–2005), Op. 123: |Tr. 1. Dante Symphony 3 "Inferno" (2001) (39'33) |Tr. 2. Dante Symphony 5 "Paradise" (2005) (33'41)--Nikolai Alekseev, cond., St Petersburg Philharmonic Orch. A Northern Flowers CDm rec, in concert @ the Grand Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonic, 21 FEB 2009.

　

I found an obituary for Tischenko which is a fairly brief summing up of his career and his standing in the musical life of his country. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/ ... o-obituary

　
The headnote is self-explanatory--this record contains 2 of the five Dante Symphonies, all pubilished together as Opus 123. They are hard to describe. The third starts out with alternating blocks of chords and a retching, raspy sound in the strings, brass and percussion. Along about the middle of the 3rd, we hear shouts of "Heh!" by about 5-6 people, repeated about a minute or two after the first series. Another brief choral nonsense episode occurs in the middle of the 5th as well. The third has a more radical tonality than the 5th. The disc is recorded at a rather low level; you have to turn up the gain to hear the music well.
　
2. CD 7 of the 7 CD RCA set titled "Van Cliburn plays Great Piano Concertos." |Tr. 1-3. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto 3 in C Major, Op. 26 (29'54) |Tr. 4-9. Liszt: Piano Concerto 2 in A Major, S. 125 (21'12) |Tr. 10-12. MacDowell: Piano Concerto 2 in D Minor, Op. 23 (26'54)--Walter Hendl, cond., Chicago Symphony Orch. (all save the Liszt, rec. 1960), Eugene Ormandy, cond., Philadelphia Orch. (Liszt, rec. 1970).
　
Walter Hendl, for those who have forgotten or never known, was once an assistant conductor of the CSO. He was also the principal conductor (never Music Director) of the orchestra in the interregnum between Reiner and Martinon.
　
The first two works here are familiar repertoire, and Cliburn performs them and the MacDowell very well. They are not my favorites, except perhaps of the MacDowell. I prefer Samson Francois in both the first two works.

[John F]

An almost exact contemporary of Leonard Bernstein, Walter Hendl similarly graduated from Fritz Reiner's conducting class at the Curtis Institute, was briefly a Koussevitzky protegé, then assistant conductor and pianist of the New York Philharmonic - he plays in Bruno Walter's recording of Beethoven's triple concerto. At that point their careers diverged, Hendl becoming music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for nine seasons. Dallas has been the stepping stone for conductors on the rise, notably Antal Dorati and Jaap van Zweden, but instead Hendl took a step down, becoming his former teacher's assistant conductor in Chicago, and after that he never held a post with a major orchestra, instead becoming head of the Eastman School of Music. Why this checkered career? According to an obituary he was an alcoholic.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obitua ... Hendl.html

His recordings are mainly concerto accompaniments, though there's quite a lot of modern American music on the obscure American Recording Society label. But when I was a child, we had a recording on the Young People's Records label titled "The Music of Aaron Copland for Young People" (1947) in which he conducted snippets from four popular works with members of the New York Philharmonic. That's on YouTube and there's certainly nothing wrong with his conducting of that music.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbZdt-jyyiM

The spoken dialogue between a mother and daughter is jejune but I remember parts of it more than 60 years since I last heard the recording. Incidentally, both actresses were among those who refused to name names in the infamous HUAC hearings and Young People's Records was decidedly a leftist organization, both on the records (Pete Seeger and Tom Glazer were on some) and in the office.

YPR didn't do much else with classical music, but we also had two of their 78s of selected Mozart contredanses, titled "Country Dances" and "Everybody Dances," conducted by Max Goberman. (We didn't have Hendl's other two YPR recordings, selections by Stravinsky and Prokofiev's "Ugly Duckling.") Again a tribute to my parents love of classical music and remarkable taste in it.

So just how good was Walter Hendl, and why did his conducting career abort after a promising beginning? From the few of his recordings I've heard, it's impossible to tell, but according to some who played in his orchestras, he was capable of great things.

[Rach3]

According to an obituary he was an alcoholic.

That obit makes for fascinating reading. One memorable excerpt :

" Another remembered him as "a crude skirt chaser, an incorrigible drunk, and a born conductor and orchestra builder".

[jserraglio]

Beethoven Quartet Cycle
Cleveland Quartet (original personnel)
RCA LP box set late 70s to '80s

[Rach3]

Beethoven Quartet Cycle
Cleveland Quartet (original personnel)
RCA LP box set 1970s

I have their RCA LP box set of just the late Quartets from that 70's cycle ; wonderful , especially Op.127.

[jserraglio]

I met 1st Violin Donald Weilerstein once after a recital his then preteen daughter Alicia gave. A very nice man. I'll wager he is a great teacher. I collect all their recordings most of which never made it to CD.

[jserraglio]

Bach & Salieri Bonynge-ECO Decca LP vinyl

[Rach3]

I met 1st Violin Donald Weilerstein once after a recital his then preteen daughter Alicia gave. A very nice man. I'll wager he is a great teacher. I collect all their recordings most of which never made it to CD.

William Preucil's parents activities : http://preucil.org/history/

[jserraglio]

Haydn Symphony No. 96 (Miracle"; Symphony No. 101 ("Clock") Columbia MS 6812 LP vinyl

[jserraglio]

[jserraglio]

Eric Heidsieck: Paraphrases sur la Marseillaise

Eric Heidsieck's Goldberg, Diabelli, Haendel and al. Variations on the Marseillaise - brilliant!
This is one of the most fun, brilliant, clever, entertaining discs published on the occasion of the celebrations of the bicentennial of the French Revolution in 1989. Therein, pianist and, for the occasion, composer Eric Heidsieck offers a series of variations on the theme of the Marseillaise, which is already fun and clever. But there's a plus, in that the theme and each variation are written "in the style of", and given in an order that's not so much chronological as stylistic, 18th-Century and the Romantics, 20th-Century. And it is brilliantly and imaginatively done, Heidsieck shows a consumate knowledge and understanding of each composer's respective manner and makes it easy to think that each of them would have composed his own variation on the given theme, exactly like Beethoven and 50 others when Diabelli provided his own (which, of course, in the case of Bach, Haendel and Mozart, is historically impossible, since Rouget de Lisle wrote the Marseillaise - known then as the War Song for the Army of the Rhine - in 1792. On the other hand, Liszt DID actually write a great Paraphrase on the Marseillaise, and Schumann fugivitely quotes it in the first movement of Faschingsschwank aus Wien, and so does Debussy at the end of Feux d'artifice, the last of his second book of Preludes). And really, Heidsieck's "in the style of" compositions are not just "competent", each time he shows twists of imagination that take you in an unexpected direction, but one that is exactly where you can fancy the respective composer would have brought you. The one drawback of the disc is that it provides only two cue-points (as the Goldberg Variations, Heidsieck's are divided in two parts), so here's the complete listing with timings, and with the titles and tempo indications, they are part of the fun:

1. Introduction and theme alla Beethoven (allegro con brio in B minor)
(2:07) alla Mozart (allegro con spirito)
(3:08) alla Bach (Bourrée for left-hand - moderato)
(5:26) alla Haendel (Maestoso - pomposo - più vivace)
(8:42) alla pre-romantic (Prelude in G minor - andantino)
(10:50) alla Schumann ("vif - lent - vif" says the CD, but really it should have been "lebhaft, langsam, lebhaft")
(12:53) alla Schubert (Impromptu in B-flat minor - cantabile)
(15:12) alla Chopin (Nocturne in B-flat major)
(18:47) alla Liszt (Légence héroïque from E-flat major to E major)
(22:13) alla Mendelssohn (Capriccio vivacissimamente from E to A minor)
(23:47) alla Brahms (Ballade in B major)
(27:12) alla Weber (Allegro non troppo ma con fuco in D-flat major)

2. alla Rachmaninoff (Etude in B minor "Flamethrower")
(3:18) alla Grieg (Lullaby in A minor "For the Surviving Child")
(6:42) alla Fauré (Pavane in B minor - noble and sad)
(9:46) alla Debussy ("En rouge garance et rouge sang" - "In Rose Madder and Blood-Red")
(13:28) alla Couperin/Ravel (Leçon des Ténèbres in B minor / La vallée d'Albolescar"
(19:52) alla Stravinsky (Chorale in B-flat - Taps)
(22:36) alla Prokofiev (The Fugitive's Vision in B-flat)
(26:42) alla contemporary music (Piece in the Shape of a Guillotine [after Satie's Morceaux en forme de poire]
(29:00) Variation and Theme from the Dies Irae (danse macabre in B-flat minor - requiescant in pace in b-flat minor - coda in B major).

I don't know if Heidsieck meant his "contemporary music" variation to be a spoof, and he probably did, but it sounds great, integral with harping directly on the strings "alla Crumb", and his finale sounds pretty contemporary as well (the Marseillaise combined - and clashing - with the famous Dies Irae theme; are we supposed to understand "requiescat in pace, Rouget de Lisle"? In fact, in the very short liner notes Heidsieck explains that he wanted to oppose "The Day of Wrath" and "The Day of Glory"). "Hommage to Rouget de Lisle" was recorded live on 10 December 1988 but the audience is inobtrusive. The piano has a tendency to loose its pitch in part two, but it is of no importance. TT 1:05. Note that the concert was recently reissued by Integral Classics, with the complement of another variation for 2 pianos "alla Hindemith" (played with Tania Heidsieck) and two other compositions of Heidsieck, it is listed on the French sister company under ASIN B005OSP6H0. The score IS published, by Editions Symétrie (three dabya symetrie dot com), and I strongly advise pianists who would chance on this review to look at it. Kudos Mr. Heidsieck, and thank you for this, it is brilliant.

[Belle]

Michael Praetorius, Dances from "Terpsichore" (complete) via Bluetooth. I have this on CD and have forgotten the name of the group: I love this music!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3U5aYluCVk

[maestrob]

Michael Praetorius, Dances from "Terpsichore" (complete) via Bluetooth. I have this on CD and have forgotten the name of the group: I love this music!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3U5aYluCVk

Delightful! Haven't heard those in a long time. Love Renaissance music, and don't have enough! Thanks, Belle .

[Belle]

You can never get enough Renaissance or Medieval music, IMO. I love it all, going right back to Leonin and Perotin and their organum. And Gregorian Chant - "but that's another story". (C/f "Irma la Douce" - did you ever see that movie??)

It's bitterly cold and windy here at the moment (good!!). Last night my husband watched rugby union in another part of the house and I spent an evening with Beethoven. First, the outstanding Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Harnoncourt recording of Symphony #9. Now, this work hasn't been a favourite of mine but in this recording it IS!!! I especially adore the Adagio, thinking this amongst Beethoven's most sublime music. Then I turned to Piano Sonata Op. 57 and I especially love the Andante (theme and variations). Again, more sublimity. How much more can I handle? Plenty!!!

As I'm presenting a program to our community music group on 26th as part 1 of 2 programs on the Beethoven Piano sonatas I've been trying to work out which is the best way of approaching these - and 3 style periods. Instead of concentrating on one sonata at a time I'll probably choose individual movements and make a point about how Beethoven changed the form irrevocably from Haydn and Mozart with his 'orchestral' conception of these works, the use of wildly varied dynamics, modulating to the mediant in the 2nd subject instead of the dominant, together with explorations of remote keys and so forth. (Alfred Brendel will help me with aspects of this!!). Anyway, I'll talk about mono-thematic movements, theme and variation movements, how he adapted the minuet and trio (hang-overs from the baroque) etc. And his 'evolution' and DNA as a composer being embedded right there in these incredible works. (Thank you for that, Ludwig.)

Lastly, for my evening's indulgence; two versions of Symphony #7. Carlos Kleiber compared to Haitink with the same orchestra - Vienna Philharmonic. Wow; Kleiber is on fire!! That brass really is wound up tightly, whereas Haitink has more of grace and rhythmic ebb and flow (like the ocean). Both magnificent readings.

Spoilt for choice, aye maestrob? And no neighbours to worry about jacked up hi-fi at 11pm!!

[maestrob]

Just for the record, Belle, I prefer Kleiber. Haitink is just too leisurely a conductor for my taste. He invariably hangs slightly behind the beat, sometimes way too much. FWIW.

[John F]

And then there's Toscanini...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRi46iB85oU

Kleiber's reading is quite similar, but to my surprise, Toscanini and RCA Victor achieved sharper, more detailed sound in Carnegie Hall than Kleiber and DG did in the Musikvereinsaal 40 years later - the latter sounds rather blowsy in comparison. The difference gives the New York Philharmonic's inner voices more presence and more impact in such passages as the close of the first movement exposition. Sorry, Carlos!

(The difference has at least partly to do with the acoustics of the two halls. The Grosse Musikvereinsaal is notoriously overresonant when empty, which of course it is during recording sessions; no such problem with Carnegie.)

Toscanini and the Philharmonic rehearsed the symphony and gave four performances in the week before the recording sessions began. Sides 3-10 were recorded and published in just one take; sides 1 and 2 were recorded twice each, side 2 published in take 2, and side 1 published in both takes - the slower is used in this transfer. Conductor and orchestra were at the very top of their game, and remained so for the Brahms, Wagner, and Rossini works also recorded and published in a single take. Recordings then were made direct to disc with no editing possible. Phenomenal!

[Belle]

I prefer Carlos Kleiber's reading of Beethoven #7, having listened to some of the Toscanini. I prefer my second movement with emphasis on the double appoggiaturas treatment, rather than as 'triplets', as Kleiber insists. I believe they work better; in short, decorative and dramatic in function rather than languid and romantic - which you get with the more fluid triplet. I just checked with the score (again) and they are definitely NOT triplets - they just sound like it in too many recordings. Kleiber wrote about it to Charles Barber, insisting that the rhythm had to be as he read it. Harnoncourt does the same thing as Kleiber with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Klemperer's reading of the same movement is leaden to unbearable levels and, far from being either triples or double appoggiaturas these sound like much longer notes.

There's something of Kleiber which is a high-wire act; the tension builds to an almost unbearable level and I don't hear this in any other version. The acoustics may not be perfect, but Kleiber was very particular about his inner voices. You especially hear this in his "Tristan" recording with the Dresden Staatskapelle.

I take John's point about the phenomenal performance from Toscanini and the achievements of the orchestra. I presume these were the "Mercury Living Presence" recordings? Or were these the ones recorded with the NBC orchestra?

[Belle]

Just for the record, Belle, I prefer Kleiber. Haitink is just too leisurely a conductor for my taste. He invariably hangs slightly behind the beat, sometimes way too much. FWIW.

"Leisurely" is quite a good way of describing this Beethoven #7 from BH. However, I did enjoy it - thinking it had grace and elegance and also drama and tension when needed. And what's not to love with the Vienna Philharmonic?

As to BH's idiosyncratic kind of orchestral 'rubato', I've never noticed this myself. Having said that, I don't have too many of his recordings and have mostly seen live performances on U-Tube and with the BPO on Digital Concert Hall.

This sounds really fine to me: how I love this superb pianist and thoroughly modest human being who adores every second of the musical experience. Just look at him at the end!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40NsFKuskH0

[John F]

You've listened only to "some" of the Toscanini? How could you stop?

That recording was made with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall in 1936. The record company was RCA Victor, which had been achieving extraordinary recorded sound for years - much better than the record players of the time could reproduce. Toscanini remade the 7th in 1951 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, also in Carnegie Hall, after efforts in 1945 and 1947 that he didn't approve for release, but the Philharmonic of the 1920s and '30s was in a class by itself, and Toscanini's interpretation had gotten tighter and too intense.

[Belle]

The Toscanini recording was made with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall in 1936. The record company was RCA Victor, which had been achieving extraordinary recorded sound for years - much better than the record players of the time could reproduce. Toscanini remade the 7th in 1951 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, also in Carnegie Hall, after efforts in 1945 and 1947 that he didn't approve for release, but the Philharmonic of the 1920s and '30s was in a class by itself, and Toscanini's interpretation had gotten tighter and too intense.

Thanks; I should have looked more closely at your earlier comments to realize the 1930s recording had nothing to do with Mercury Living Presence. Senior's moment!!

You are obviously the 'fountainhead' on matters of recordings!!